Actualizing Transformative Promises of Qualitative Inquiry: Early Career Retrospective

Several indicators demonstrate that the qualitative movement has contributed to a sea-change in psychological science. Given the increased usage of qualitative methods and formally established qualitative research design and reporting standards, there may no longer be a need to fight for the legitimacy of qualitative methods. In this early career retrospective of Qualitative Psychology (QP), we review the current state of qualitative inquiry in psychology. We present our analysis of the tensions and pitfalls that may impede qualitative psychology's transformative potential. As qualitative methodologies are increasingly integrated into mainstream psychology, we call attention to the risks of assimilation into hegemonic paradigms. We argue that this assimilation may undermine methodological pluralism and social justice aims by extracting research procedures and human experiences from theoretical and cultural contexts. In this article, we have articulated some evidence that qualitative methods have been constrained by scientism and subsumed within postpositivist frameworks. For instance, we outline pernicious ways in which research procedures uphold decontextualizing inquiry with one-size-fits-all practices that mimic natural science paradigm objectives. However, qualitative research in psychology has long centered the holistic and contextualized study of human experiences, advancing critical goals of decoloniality and liberation. We draw upon this ethos to identify specific recommendations to actualize qualitative psychology's transformative potential by (a) using methodological integrity as a radical tool against co-option; (b) resisting systemic barriers that constrain epistemological pluralism; (c) legitimizing scientific inquiry as a contextualized process; (d) honoring multiple ways of knowing; (e) harnessing current opportunities toward; and (f) promoting transformative and liberatory aims.